I never CLAIMED to be good at this

Sophie, blissfully, still loves us. While many of her 4-and-5-year-old peers are in the hateful, vitriolic habit of flinging an "I HATE YOU" for everything from bedtime to not getting a new toy, but Sophie still skips around blissfully claiming that we are the best parents in the WORRRRRRLD! :D 

We're really not. It's high praise from a 4-year-old, yes, but we are really not. I've never claimed to be a good parent or even a great parent. I'm too lenient. "Bedtime" is a suggestion. If we want to eat something, we eat it. We like to blast the BAD BAD GIRLFRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEND song at obscene volumes and sing and dance. Occasionally, I lock myself in the bathroom and tell Sophie I'm having a crisis and to go watch TV. 

There's a lot of pressure in the world to be good parents, to raise your children a certain way, and I think that it's important to sometimes embrace the bad parent in all of us. Do things others don't approve of. Feed your kid junk occasionally. Let them listen to inappropriate music. Let them dress themselves. Do things that scare all of you. The life experience they'll gain from your "bad parenting moments" will last a lifetime.